O You Who Believe

75)

"O you who have believed, when you converse privately, do not converse about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger but converse about righteousness and piety. And fear Allah, to whom you will be gathered."

[Al-Mujadilah 58:9]

Allah the Exalted teaches His believing servants to avoid the ways of the disbelievers and hypocrites in their ways of holding secret counsels for wrongdoing, sinning and doing disobedience to Allah's Messenger. The command is to not hold evil secret counsels like the ignorant disbelieving People of the Scriptures and their allies among the hypocrites, who imitate their ways.

Imstead, believers should hold counsels for Al-Birr (righteousness) and Taqwa (piety). Believers should be aware that even in their secret meetings, Allah is watchful over them and unto Him they shall be gathered and He will then inform them of all their deeds and statements; He has counted and recorded them and will justly hold the transgressors accountable for them.

This command shows that najwa (talking secretly together) by itself is not forbidden, but it's being lawful or unlawful depends upon the character of the people who hold secret consultations and upon the circumstances under which such consultations are held, and upon nature of the consultations themselves. If the people whose sincerity, righteousness and purity of character are well known, are seen talking secretly together, nobody would have any misgiving that they were planning mischief. On the contrary, the whispering and secret consultations of the people who are notorious for their evil and wicked character, produce in every mind, the suspicion that they are engaged in a new conspiracy. Likewise, if a couple of persons talk for some time together on some matter secretly, it is not objectionable, but if some people have formed themselves into a gang and constantly engaged in a whispering campaign against the Muslim community, this would indeed be a prelude to some mischief.

If nothing else, it would at least stir up divisions among the Muslims. Above all, the thing that decides whether najwa (secret counsel) is lawful or unlawful is the nature of the things talked of. If two men hold a secret counsel in order to bring a dispute the an end, and to restore a person’s right, or to bring a dispute to an end, or to restore a person’s right, or to promote a good cause, it is no evil, but rather and an act of virtue. On the contrary, if the same secret counsel between two men is held with a view to creating mischief, or usurping the rights of others, or committing a sin, obviously the object itself would be evil and the secret counsel about it evil added to evil. In this connection, the teaching given by Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) of social etiquette is: When three men are sitting together, no two of them should whisper to each other, for this would cause anguish to the third. (Bukhari)

In another Hadith, the Prophet said: Two men should not whisper together, without the leave of the third, for this would cause him anguish. (Muslim).

This objectionable sort of whispering also applies to the case when two of the three men start talking in a language which is not understood by the third, and even more objectionable would be that during their whispering they should look towards the third person or gesticulate in a manner as to suggest that he is the topic of discussion between them.

The very next verse is:

"Whispering is an act of Satan, one that aims at causing grief to the believers; yet without Allah's leave no harm can be caused to them. So in Allah should the believers put all their trust."

[Al-Mujadilah 58:10]

This has been said so that if a Muslim watches some other people whispering, which causes him the doubt that it is directed against him, he should not feel so offended as to start planning a counter-attack on the basis of mere suspicion, or begin to nourish grief, or malice, or undue concern in his heart. He should understand that no one can harm him except by Allah’s leave. This conviction would inspire him with such confidence that he would feel delivered of many a useless worry and imaginary danger and leaving the wicked to themselves would remain engaged in peacefully doing his duty. The believer who has trust in Allah is neither a faint-hearted person, whose peace of mind could be ruined by every doubt and suspicions nor so shallow and mean-minded as would lose his cool when confronted by the evildoers and start behaving in an unjust manner himself.

Hence, the command about Najwa (secret counseling) is that it is not altogheter forbidden, it is allowed but it should not be upheld to discuss sinning, wrongdoing and disobedience to Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) as such is the trait of hypocrites and disbelievers. A trait of a believer, however, is that when he upholds a secret counsel, he discusses about righteousness, piety, fear of Allah and passes the knowledge of Islam to his brothers.

The traits of a believer are all boosted by Taqwa; God awareness. Hence, to become a true believer, one should practice Taqwa at all times. In this way, a believer stays away from sinning and earns much reward.

Things we learnt:

> Allah commands His believing servants to not promote malice, sins and wrongdoings in their private meetings.

> Allah then commands about the right way. He teaches the believers to discuss about piety and righteousness instead of disobedience and sins.

> Allah tells the believers to have Taqwa even during their secret meetings as Allah is always Watchful over their deeds and they will be held accountable for those deeds at the Day of Resurrection. Taqwa is the key to salvation from sins.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.